Step-bearing for machinery.



H. A. PERKINS.

STEP BEARING FOR MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-10, 1908.

Patented Apr. 15,1913.

l/vvglvron ll PM a W, ATTORNEY UNITED PAZlENT OFFICE.

HIRAM A. PERKINS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSICl-NOR TO AMERICAN WOOD WORKING MACHINERY (70., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

STEP-BEARING FOR MACHINERY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 19.! 3.

Application filed February 10, 1908. Serial No. 415.266.

1/ b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM A. PERKINS, oi the city of Rochester, in the county of .h'lonroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Step-Bearings for Machinery, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to prov1de an end bearing for vertical spindles which shall -be durable, self lubricating, and removable in case of injury, without damage to the spindle or its adjacent parts, and its nature will appear in the sub-jolned description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical section of a step bearing showing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a modification of the ball collar and mode of attachment.

A is a vertical spindle running in side bearings B, of any of the usual forms, and having preferably the cup shape below provided with a removable screw plug J, all

substantially as shown. The lower end of this spindle is preferably hollowed out as at K, to give ball G, clearance, cavity K, being coaxial with the spindle;

E is a clamping or holding collar which slips over the end of the spindle A, or over a portion of it of reduced diameter, as at D, Fig. 1. This collar is bored out to receive .the ball G, which is preferably somewhat smaller in diameter than the spindle A, and is held in place by. being driven or pressed tightly into the bore of the collar E.

I prefer to bore the collar E, so that the ball will pinch into it, at, or about at the center plane of the ball, and that the collar be recessed a trifle, leaving a ring or ledge a, against which the ball can rest, and thus receive the thrust of the spindle, but any form of retaining collar which forces the ball to revolve coaxially with the spindle would effect my purpose. In some cases a shoulder a on the end of the spindle may be used in place of said ledge a. As the collarE, is coaxialwith spindle A, and the seat for the ball is coaxial with the collar, it follows that the ball center is in line with the spindle axis. It is a characteristic of my invention that the ball or approximately spherical bearing part has no independent rotation, but is fixed to the spindle. The friction between the collar and the spindle at the point D, is suflicient atall timesto keep the collar E, and ball G, in fixed relathe ball and its step bearing.

F, is a step plate provided on its upper surface with a cavity to receive a portion of the ball G, loosely.

C, is a well or cup which may be a part of the step plate 1', if desired, and is' kept partly or wholly filled with lubricating oil. It will he observed that the ball G, can be removed from the collar E, by pressure, and when worn oironc side can be replaced with another portion of its surface exposed where it rests in the step plate; and when worn out of sphericity can be replaced with a new ball at slight expense, thus not ail'ecting the main spindle A, in any way.

J, is an adjusting screw bearing against the step plate, as is usual in such bearings, and in connection with a suitable shoulder clamping the ball into the conical recess K.

In this construction also the ball is removable and always coaxial with the spindle and with the step plate F.

The several constructions illustrated have this in common, that each has connected to the end of its spindle a collar which in use rotates only with the spindle. Eachcon struction has a step plate with a concave bearing, and each has a rounded part which bears inthe step plate concavity and rotates only with the collar and spindle. In

the constructions of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 said rounded parts are the lower sldes of the balls.

I am aware that freely rotatable balls, one or more, have been employed in step bearings. My in'iprovcmcnt contemplates a rounded bearing noruu lly-fixcd to an adjustable part reu'iovably connected to the spindle whereby the bearing surface may be renewed whcnworn.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'l. The eombimlticu of a rotary spindle, a collar rcmovably fixed to an end thereof so as, in use, to rotate with and only with the spindle, a ball non-rotatably but removably secured in said collar, there beingan angu-. lar shoulder against which the ball non-rotzitably held in the collar bears, and a step ate; p 2. The combination ofthe spindle, the step plate, a bearing comprising an approximately spherical part situated below the foot of the spindle and carried mediately by it, and means for fixing the said bearing to the spindle and against independent r0t-a-' tion, said spherical part and ifixing means being normally fixed together," and rotatable With and detachable from the spindle,

whereby, whenthe ball becomes Worn on one F. H. CLEMENT, G. G. So TH Ro.

' side it can be loosened and .turnedto bring 

